Provo Canyon 7/27/2018

Monday's foray was a short drive from our campground to Provo Canyon. Ray had found what sounded like an interesting hike whose highlight was lots of wildflowers. Having hiked in National Forests before, we assumed that we would just follow the signs for the trails.

The trail we would start on, trail A, was an "out and back" trail. But we could make a loop hike by going to the trailhead for trail A, following that to trail B, and then to the junction for trail C, which would take us back to the trailhead. Unfortunately, the directions Ray got had no distances by which to gauge where the trail junctions were, and, as it turned out, there were no signs at the junction of trail A and B. With no one else on the trail, we had to guess where we should make the turn for trail B. Fortunately, we were able to make a more informed guess with a trail mapping app on my phone that showed us the track we were on.

Anyway, we hiked through aspen forest and mountain meadows replete with all kinds of wildflowers, as advertised. But a significant section of the trail took us through a dense area of shoulder-height ferns that was home to clouds of mosquitoes. The 2-foot wide trail here consisted of powdery dust and loose rocks, as the trail rose and descended steeply. Needless to say, this was not my favorite hike ever.

Pictures are here: https://photos.app.goo.gl/VserBqVnnYCgTCrH7